Apparatus for taking a sample from a moving web of material



Feb. 17, 1970 K. J. ADDIS E L 3,

APPARATUS FOR TAKING A SAMPLE FROM MOVING WEB 0F MATERIAL Filed June 29, 1967 I s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR$ KENNETH J. ADDIS BOBBY L. PITTS THOMAS A.WELLS ATTORNEY Feb. 17, 1970 K. J. ADDIS ETA!- PPARATUS FOR TAKING A sum: Fnom A movme WEB OF MATERIAL s Sh ets-Sheet .2

Filed June 29, 1967 FIG-3- INVENTORS KENNETH J. ADDIS BOBBY L. PITTS THOMAS A. WELLS ATTORNEY Feb. 17, 1970 K. J.*Abbl$ :TAL 3,495

APPARATUS FOR TAKING A SAMPLE FROM A MOVING WEB OF' I J ATERIAL Filed June 29, 19s? 3 Sheets-Sheet s FIG. -5-

INVENTOR. KENNETH J. ADDIS BOBBY L. PITTS THOMAS A.WELL5 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,495,488 APPARATUS FOR TAKING A SAMPLE FROM A MOVING WEB 0F MATERIAL Kenneth J. Addis, Spartanburg, Bobby L. Pitts, Wellford, and Thomas A. Wells, Spartanburg, S.'C., assignors to Deering Milliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg,

S.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 29, 1967, Ser. No. 650,128 Int. Cl. B26d 7/06 US. Cl. 83151 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus to take samples from a moving web of material using a spring powered rotary cutter which is released by a trigger device actuated by contact with the moving web of material.

Prior to this invention, when it was desired to take a sample from a moving web of material which was in process in a machine, it was necessary to shut down the machine and cut out the sample and then restart the machine. This stopping and starting of the machine results in loss of Web material, loss of time and possible damage to the processing machine.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide apparatus to automatically take samples from a moving web of material without stopping the machine processing said web of material.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus to automatically take samples from a web of material which is relatively inexpensive to produce, easy to operate and efiicient in operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view of the new and improved sampler in position against a moving web of material;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic perspective view of the sampler with a sample of web material shown withdrawn from the sampler;

FIGURE 3 is a top view of the sampler;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view of the sampler with the protective cover removed;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section view taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the sampler showing the protective cover removed from the sampler.

In the preferred form of the invention it is proposed to cut circular samples from a moving web of textile material but it is within the scope of the invention to take samples of other materials such as paper, plastic, etc., and to cut such samples in other desired shapes. Furthermore, if desired, the new and improved apparatus can be employed to take samples from a stationary web.

The basic apparatus is preferably a hand held device 10 which when pressed against a web of material 12 will cut out a circular sample of material 14 as shown in detail in FIGURES 3-5 and basically consists of a handle 16, a torsion spring 18, a blade support member 20, a circular pin bar member 22, a circular flanged housing member 24, and a removable cover member 26.

The handle 16 is secured between the upstanding legs of a U-shaped support member 28 by any suitable means. Welded or otherwise secured to the outside of the U- shaped support members 28 are a pair of U-shaped bracket members 30 with openings therein to slidably support and guide the rod members 32 which are connected to the circular housing 24 by suitable means such as collar 3,495,488 Patented Feb. 17', 1970 members 34 locked to the rod members 32 by means of set screws 36. Located on the rodv members 32 between the bracket members 30 and the circular housing 24 are springs 38 biasing the circular housing 24 away from the bracket members 30. Similar collars 34 and set screws 36 are used at the top of rod, members 32 to prevent the rod members from sliding out of the bracket members 30.

A bolt member 40 is secured to the bottom of the U-shaped support member by suitable means such as washer 42 and nut 44 screwed into the end of bolt member 40. Rigidly secured to the bottom of bolt member 40 is the circular pin bar member 22 in which a plurality of polished tapered pins 46 are secured for reasons hereinafter explained. Rotatably secured above the pin bar member 22 on the inner planar surface of the bolt head 48 by means of a suitable bearing 50 is the blade support member 20 which has a plurality of projecting arms 52 that project beyond the outer periphery of the pin bar member 22 and to which are attached cutting blades 54. Attached to the top of the blade support member is a pin member 55 which projects through opening 56 in the top of circular housing 24 and engages a stop member 58 attached by suitable means to the top of the circular housing 24.

Secured in position above blade support member 20 and projecting through the opening 56 is the torsion spring 18 which is rotatably retained in position by spring retaining cap 58 held against the shoulder of the turned down portion 60 of the bolt member 40. Rotatably secured to the turned down portion 60 by means of a suitable sleeve bearing '62 is a ratchet wheel 64. Connected to the ratchet wheel 64 on the bottom thereof is a pin 66 which projects through the spring retaining cap 58 engaging and retaining one end 68 of the torsion spring 18.

Rotatably supported on the turned down portion 60 of the bolt member 40 is the ratchet wheel handle 69 which through the action of pawl 70 pivotally secured thereto engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel to cause the ratchet wheel to rotate. A second pawl 72 is pivotally secured to the bottom of the U-shaped support member 28 and also engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 64 to retain the ratchet wheel in the position rotated to by the ratchet wheel handle.

OPERATION As pointed out previously the disclosed sampler is tion to mount the novel sampler on the processing machine and move into and out of engagement with the moving web of materialautomatically.

In normal operation when it is desired to take a sample from a moving web of material the protective cover 26 will be removed to expose the cutting blades 54 and the pins 46. Then the ratchet handle 69 will be grasped and rotated in the clockwise direction to cause the torsion spring 18 to rotate in the same direction by the rotation of the ratchet wheel 64. On each rotation of the ratchet wheel 64 when the handle 69 is being rotated in the counterclockwise direction to the starting position, the pawl 72 will engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 64 and prevent the bias of the torsion spring from rotating the ratchet wheel. Consecutively, the other end 74 of the torsion spring will contact the pin member 55 causing the blade support member to rotate clockwise until the pin 55 contacts the stop member 58. Then successive rotations of the ratchet handle will cause the torsion spring 18 to be wound up against the bias of the spring. Then the sampler 10 will be grasped by the handle and projected onto the moving web of material 12. The flange 76 of the circular flanged housing member will preferably contact the web material first and then be moved rearwardly against the bias of springs 38 to allow the pins 46 to penetrate the web material. Also simultaneously therewith, since the flanged circular housing 24 is being moved rearwardly against the bias of the springs 38, stop member 58 is being moved back away from the pin member 55 so that when the stop member 58 clears the top of pin member 55 the bias of torsion spring 18 will cause the blade support member to rotate, thereby allowing the cutting blades 54 to cut out the material sample 14 shown in FIGURE 2. The sampler is then removed from the vicinity of the web of material with the sample 14 impaled on the pins 46.

It should be noted that in the preferred embodiment the flange 76 contacts the Web material before the pins 46 penetrate the material and the blades start to cut but obviously, depending on the material to be sampled, the length of the pins 46 and/or the blades can be varied to have either or both the pins or the blades so that they will project beyond the flange 76 and contact the web material before the flange.

The sampler 10 and its use has numerous advantages over prior art devices and methods. It is obvious from the above description that the use of the disclosed sampler provides a reliable and simple method to obtain samples from a moving web of material without stopping the machine processing the material, thereby eliminating damage to a number of yards in material being processed. Furthermore, the disclosed apparatus is readily manufactured at a nominal expense of time and money.

Although we have described in detail our preferred embodiment, it is contemplated that other advantages and modifications will become obvious to those skilled in the art and therefore we desire to be limited only by the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A sampler to cut samples from a moving web of material comprising: a housing, blade means, a blade support member means rotatably connecting said blade means to said support member substantially perpendicular to the axis thereof, means in said housing to support a sample of a web material and means to actuate said blade means at a predetermined time to rotate said blades in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of said support member to cut a sample from a moving web of material.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said means to rotate said blade means includes a spring, means to exert a force against the bias of said spring and means to release the force on said spring to rotate said blade means.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said spring is a torsion spring.

4. A sampler to cut samples from a moving web of material comprising: a housing, blade means rotatably supported in said housing, means in said housing to support a sample of web material and means to actuate said blade means at a predetermined time to rotate said blade means to cut a sample from a moving web of material, said means to rotate said blade means including a spring, means to exert a force against the bias of said spring and means to release the force on said spring, said spring having a portion thereof slidably mounted and including spring means to bias said portion of said housing to a forward position and stop means operably associated with said slidably mounted housing portion and said spring to prevent the release of the force on said spring until said housing portion is slid against the bias of said spring.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein said spring is a torsion spring with one end connected to a ratchet wheel and the other end operably associated with said stop means.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein a ratchet and pawl means are operably associated with said housing and said ratchet Wheel to rotate said ratchet wheel when rotated to provide said force on said torsion spring.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said sample supporting means are pins fixed relative to said blade means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,379,140 6/1945 Frank 30-130 X 2,939,210 6/1960 Cannan 839l9 X 3,075,421 1/1963 Teplitz 839l9 X 3,375,743 4/1968 Levy 83919 X WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

